NA-19 by-polls: PML-N candidate emerges winner

Babar Nawaz secures 95,022 votes, according to unofficial results

HARIPUR: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidate Babar Nawaz has emerged as the clear winner in the by-election held for the NA-19 constituency, securing a little less than double the votes that his closest rival had, unofficial results showed on Sunday.

Nawaz picked up 95,022 votes against PTI candidate Raja Amir who polled 48,129 votes.

The results were based on the unofficial vote count from 282 polling stations of the constituency till late Sunday night.

The voter turnout in the election, however, remained as low as 25%- 30% of the 577,480 electorates.

In the by-polls, Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) experimented use of biometrics voter’s verification at 30 polling stations for the first time in Pakistan’s history.

Over 18,000 officials from the Frontier Corps, police and security forces were deployed to ensure law and order. Apart from a few scuffles, reported from Mohallah Railway Station, Shah Maqsood and Khalabat Township, the by-polls were held in a largely peaceful manner.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Pakistan Peoples Party candidate Tahir Qureshi said he hardly found any mismanagement or rigging in the election.

The PML-N candidate Babar Nawaz Khan expressed satisfaction over the turnout. To a question, he said the voters had prevented the provincial government from meddling with the polling process.

When contacted, Haripur DPO Khurrum Rasheed said not a single incident of violence or suspension of polling process was reported across the district. He said Nara Amazai area’s women, however, did not turn up to cast ballots due to ‘cultural restraints’.

Nine candidates were in the run, but the PTI and the PML-N’s candidates were the toughest contenders.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2015.